Big Game Shooting, volume 2 (of 2)

by Clive Phillipps-Wolley

.450
340 grains

.577
625 grains

Since Sir Samuel Baker has so strongly recommended .577 6-dr. rifles, they have become much better known, and are now much more used than formerly. There can be no question that when fired with proper bullets they are very effective weapons, even against the largest kinds of game. Of course for use against the latter it is necessary to employ solid hardened bullets.

The weapon used and recommended by Sir Samuel Baker is somewhat heavier than the ordinary .577, weighing between 11 and 12 lbs.; it was specially made for him, and is sighted up to 400 yards.

For soft-skinned animals, Sir Samuel used solid pure lead bullets, and he always found them deliver the whole power of the charge upon the animal, being generally forced into the shape of a mushroom, and found under the skin upon the opposite side of the beast.

Count Teleki, in his successful three years’ expedition in Central Africa, also used .577 rifles against elephants, buffaloes and rhinoceros with great effect, although he preferred his 8-bore (shooting 10 drs., and a short conical bullet) for big game, finding that at close quarters a knockdown blow was absolutely necessary. The question of the rival bores for such game as tiger, bear, &c., will probably never be settled, as so much depends upon the capabilities of the shooter, the class of country he is in, and the style of shooting, whether in a howdah or on foot, &c.; but it may be taken generally that for dangerous game it is always as well to be on the safe side and to use as powerful a weapon (in moderation) as you can conveniently handle.

Figs. 13 and 14.—Blocks of soft .577 bullets cut out of tigers by Sir Samuel Baker

In Africa, where animals of the same species as are met with in India appear to require much more killing than they do in the latter country, the .577 firing a solid hardened bullet and 6 drs. of powder must always be a most useful weapon. For lion, the largest kind of deer, &c., it is all that is wanted, and even for elephants it is a fairly effective rifle.